# How to respond to interviewer when you are overqualified for the position **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2026, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136 "2026-04-09T04:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/21 "2026-04-09T20:11:16Z")
Kick some ass! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/22 "2026-04-09T21:08:39Z")
How’d it go? Hmm, may you are still there. If by chance you see this before the interview, the two questions you want to answer are: What i can do for you. Why I’ll stay here, and not jump ship as soon as I’m trained. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/23 "2026-04-09T23:57:58Z")
Survived! Did well, I think, and was nervous as fuck. Glad the office was cold. I calmed down right away when I first met them. It’s for another post production job. Sticking with 21+ years because I enjoy it. Excellent company. No details, respect to the staff. Two people at same time interviewed me. Lasted around 45 minutes. All your advice helped. I don’t wanna jinx anything. Won’t know anything until late next week. New question: When do I send the thank you email? Is it better to wait because there are more applicants? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/24 "2026-04-10T00:06:25Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > New question: When do I send the thank you email? Is it better to wait because there are more applicants? Heck, I’d send it right away. It could elevate their opinion of you ahead of the newer applicants. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/25 "2026-04-10T00:11:09Z")
True. They’re gone for the day now, but I’ll send later tonight when thoughts aren’t a jumble. 😁 Should I mention points in the interview we talked about in email? They said if I had any other questions about company/position, they encouraged me to ask. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/26 "2026-04-10T00:17:55Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Should I mention points in the interview we talked about in email? > > They said if I had any other questions about company/position, they encouraged me to ask. It might be good to mention something specific to the company so that your letter will stand out as more than just a generic thank-you note. People here have said in other threads that nobody will even read these, but where I work, they are all read, and we have never hired anyone who didn’t send one. They weren’t hired _because_ of the letter, but they were the kind of people who knew enough to send them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/27 "2026-04-10T00:18:33Z")
Agree w this^^ And find a question to ask them, even if you truly don’t need the answer. It sows diligence and interest. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/28 "2026-04-10T00:23:49Z")
Well, I was going to say that you need to convince them that the job you’re applying for is the job you want. If you’ve got a lot of experience in the field the interviewer might worry that you’ll start gunning for his/her slot. Make sure they know otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/29 "2026-04-10T00:26:28Z")
I sort of did what you suggested. Many jobs in the past were all over the place. This job has one role, which I’ll really like. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/30 "2026-04-10T05:06:12Z")
Chiming in a bit late, but the followup email to them should be primarily about things you learnt in the interview about the interviewers/company that make you more excited about the role. Like, you mentioned “Excellent company. No details, respect to the staff.”, be specific about what you noticed that made you think it was excellent. If the interviewer asked a good question, tell them you thought the question was thoughtful and insightful. If it’s relevant, provide some additional details of why the things you learned mesh well with your existing expertise, eg: “I really appreciate that you guys take X seriously, when I was at [past role], I was in charge of improving X and I did [a,b,c] and loved doing that for them”. You want to engender a sense of forward momentum that, each step in the process, it’s looking like more and more of a good fit. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136/31 "2026-04-10T08:14:41Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > People here have said in other threads that nobody will even read these, but where I work, they are all read, and we have never hired anyone who didn’t send one. They weren’t hired _because_ of the letter, but they were the kind of people who knew enough to send them. Yes. Agree with you and @LSLGuy on this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-interviewer-when-you-are-overqualified-for-the-position/1029136.md?page=1)